Emphasizing the most recent developments this book addresses both the basic and applied aspects of adhesion. The authors present the latest results on fundamental aspects, adhesion in biology, chemistry for adhesive formulation, surface chemistry and the pretreatment of adherends, mechanical issues, non-destructive testing and the durability of adhesive joints, as well as advanced technical applications of adhesive joints. Prominent scientists review the current level of knowledge concerning the role of chemical bonds in adhesion, new resins and nanocomposites for adhesives, and about the role played by macromolecular architecture in the properties of hot melt and pressure sensitive adhesives.

Prof. Wulff Possart holds the chair for Adhesion and Interphases in Polymers at the University of the Saarland in Saarbrücken Germany. He gained his doctorate in interfacial science and adhesion from the Academy of Sciences of the GDR in 1984, and received his lecturing qualification in solid state physics from Potsdam University, Germany, in 1993. He is the author of more than 88 scientific papers, book chapters and books, and serves on the editorial boards of several scientific journals. Professor Possart's work focuses on mechanisms of fundamental adhesion, structure formation and properties of thin organic and polymer films, interphase chemistry in reactive systems, polymer dynamics at the phase boundary, and on the ageing and durability of thin films and interphases.